La's orchestra saves the world by Alexander McCall Smith

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La (short for Lavender) goes to live in the country when her marriage breaks down. She’s a young woman & with WWII about to break out, she wants to do some war work. She helps out at a poultry farm where she meets Feliks, a Polish refugee, who has been a pilot in the RAF, but is now grounded. La falls in love with Feliks, but she has doubts about his background at a time when everyone is looking for spies. La helps to start up an orchestra in the village along with men from the local air base & people from the nearby town. The orchestra provides a focal point for the members during the worst times of the war with their plans for a victory concert when it’s all over. The descriptions of life in the country during wartime are wonderful, the threat of air raids & the reality of rationing. McCall Smith’s gentle style of storytelling is perfectly suited to this story of a woman trying to overcome sorrow & get on with her life.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

Resistance by Agnes Humbert

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Genre - Non Fiction

Agnes Humbert was an art historian living in Paris when the Germans invaded in 1940. She immediately became part of a group which spread anti-Nazi propaganda throughout occupied France through newsletters called Resistance. The title of the newsletter, Resistance, became the name of all the groups opposing the occupation. Agnes’ group was quickly betrayed & Agnes was arrested & sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for distributing propaganda. This book was written using the diary she kept until her arrest & her memories of her trial & deportation to a German labour camp. Agnes was forced to work in German factories in shocking conditions as slave labour. Slave workers were forced to do the most dangerous jobs such as weaving nylon without any protective clothing. Their hands were continually burnt by acid & they were considered unworthy to receive medical attention or adequate food. Agnes fought back by sabotaging her work so as to make the nylon useless or the wooden boxes she made in another factory fall apart because she cut short the nails she was given. After the Americans liberated the camp in 1945, Agnes began organizing supplies for the refugees pouring into Germany & collecting evidence to prosecute the Nazis. This remarkable book is a testimony to the strength of Agnes Humbert. She never loses her sense of humour, or her sense of outrage at the fate of her country & her determination to survive.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters